I disagree with the notion that grunting is useful if you learn how to breathe without grunting from the start. Some people grunt as a way to exhale a little bit of air and after lifting like that over and over, it becomes a habit.

Grunting on the last repetition to complete the set, might be acceptable. But some people grunt on every rep. IMO, they use too much weight for themselves without realizing it and grunting is an attempt to retain some control of their lifting form. This habit is easy to develop if during every set and every workout you try to lift as much weight as possible (going "heavy duty") instead of varying one's routine now and then.

Nevertheless there is a gym that is yanking memberships for grunting.

"Planet Fitness is not interested in such vocal lifting.

Members who violate the grunting prohibition a second time are subjected to the lunk alarm -- a siren that flashes blue.

The New York Times recently featured an article about a Wappingers Falls, N.Y. bodybuilder who ran afoul of the grunting rule.

A manager of the Planet Fitness in Wappingers Falls canceled the bodybuilder's membership after the muscle-bound member challenged the manager about the grunting charge." [link]

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WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y., Nov. 13 — Albert Argibay, a bodybuilder and a state correction officer, was at a Planet Fitness gym with 500 pounds of weight on his shoulders one afternoon this month when the club manager walked over and told him it was time to leave. Mr. Argibay, the manager explained, had violated one of the club’s most sacred and strictly enforced rules: He was grunting....At most health clubs, grunts elicit little more than annoyed looks or sighs of irritation. But at Planet Fitness, a national chain with 120 locations, it is a matter not only of etiquette, but also of club policy: one too many offending noises can get a membership revoked...The no-grunt policy is one of several eyebrow-raising rules — no bandannas, no jeans, no banging weights — that managers say are intended to make their target clientele of novice exercisers feel comfortable. [link]

Their rule about no banging weights should be a standard rule in every gym, just like this one:

"Your Mom does not work here. Put your own dumbbells and weights away when you're finished. "

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Do Cardio. The overall best way to shed fat fast is to do cardio (30 min minimum) right when you wake up. Your body will search for energy to use, when it finds nothing in your stomach, it will go directly to your fat storage for energy and the fat will burn up so fast!

Some doctors now think that the internal fat surrounding vital organs like the heart, liver or pancreas — invisible to the naked eye — could be as dangerous as the more obvious external fat that bulges underneath the skin....“Being thin doesn’t automatically mean you’re not fat,” said Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College, London. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat....According to the data, people who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim. “The whole concept of being fat needs to be redefined,” said Bell, whose research is funded by Britain’s Medical Research Council....Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores — a standard obesity measure that divides your weight by the square of your height — can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside....Still, most experts believe that being of normal weight is an indicator of good health, and that BMI is a reliable measurement....The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “Even if you don’t see it on your bathroom scale, caloric restriction and physical exercise have an aggressive effect on visceral fat,” said Dr. Bob Ross, an obesity expert at Queen’s University in Canada.

The caveat for BMI is that it's a reliable measurement for most people but not for those with a lot of muscle. Sometimes a higher BMI is the result of muscle mass figuring for a larger portion of overall body composition.

The generic scale for BMI for males usually considers 26 to be the cutoff from being fit and being "overweight." The study described below found 26.5 to be the "ideal" for males. How can it be ideal to be overweight? which makes the value label of "fit" and "overweight" a bit arbitrary.

It is the holy grail of the fashion and beauty industries: a scientific blueprint for the most beautiful women, and men, in the world.

Researchers have thrown away the old vital statistics and, instead, focused on how the dimensions of different parts of the body relate to height and body mass index (BMI) to give the perfect physique. Perhaps surprisingly, two of the most important measurements are the girth of the thigh and the slimness of the calf.

Perfect woman: Naomi Campbell

The vital statistics:

Body mass index 20.85

Bust girth to height 49.3%

Waist-chest ratio 1.4

Leg-to-body ratio 1.4

Calf girth to height 19.5%

Height 175cm

Thigh girth to height 29.7

What it all means:

"Super beautiful" women have waists a third smaller than their hips and three-quarters their bust measurement. They have longer legs, and slimmer thighs and calves than the average woman.

Perfect man: Christian Bale

The vital statistics:

Body mass index 26.5

Waist-chest ratio 0.6

Leg-to-body ratio 1

Height 188cm

What it all means:

The physically ideal man is more than 6ft tall, with legs the same length as his upper body. The leg-to-body ratio of 1 makes him appear more muscular, which is why the ideal BMI for men is higher than for women.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Great article that focuses on the essentials of training. Even though the author specifically mentions triathlon training and preparation, all the tips after the first page apply to training with weights as well. link